Method of processing image

ABSTRACT

In a method of processing an image, a plurality of pages of data is reduced and created as collected data, and specific information corresponding to a sheet of a print medium is created. The collected data and the specific information are edited in a data editing section and transmitted to a printing section. Even when a plurality of the pages of data is printed in a sheet after reduced, the specific information is printed under a non-reduced condition, thus making it possible to print the specific information which is easily distinguished.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of the prior application Ser. No.10/784,179 filed Feb. 24, 2004, allowed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of processing an image forprinting print data and specific information.

2. Description of the Related Art

Specific information, such as a pre-designated fixed character stringand fixed drawing (hereinafter “water mark”), has been simply overlappedwith the print image on each page for printing.

In a conventional image forming apparatus, a document or any other datais created by an application using a host apparatus, such as a personalcomputer. A graphic image function of the created document is convertedto an output suitable for an output device by a graphic deviceinterface. A printer driver generates print data suitable for the outputdevice and transmits the generated output data to an output apparatus (aprinting apparatus). When the water mark is required to be printed on aprint medium, the water mark stored in the printing apparatus isoverlapped with the print data transmitted by the print driver forprinting.

In the conventional image forming apparatus, however, when a pluralityof pages is reduced to one sheet for printing, each reduced water markis printed on each reduced page. Therefore, the water mark is printed infine characters and it becomes difficult to distinguish the water mark.

Primarily, the water mark has a function of watermark. However, in theabove method of overlapping the water mark with the print data, theprimary function of the watermark, wherein an image is visible throughlight, cannot be achieved.

Also, when several kinds of documents are printed by a network printercommonly used by a plurality of users, it has been necessary for a userto set his/her own water mark every time of printing in order toefficiently take out his/her own document by the water mark. However, ithas been very time-consuming and burdensome work for the user.

In addition, in case of the face-down printing, in which the printmedium is output up side down, even if the water mark is printed toidentify his/her own document easily, since the water mark is printed onthe front face, the print medium is required to be turned over to thefront face one by one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an imageforming apparatus capable of printing a plurality of pages of print dataafter reducing intensively and overlapping a specific mark with theprint data.

Another object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatuscapable of printing a specific mark which is mirror-inverted on theprint medium.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an image formingapparatus capable of printing a specific mark, which identifies theprinting person or the contents of the document, on the back face of theprint medium.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an image formingapparatus capable of using a part of the name of the document as aspecific mark.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image generating section according tothe first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3 (a) and 3(b) are tables showing examples of an intensive pageincluding four and sixteen pages, respectively, according to the firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an operation of a property setting sectionaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an operation of a printer driver according tothe first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an operation of a printer driver according tothe second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing print examples by a printing sectionaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to thethird embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an operation of a printer driver according tothe third embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11 (a) and 3(b) are tables showing construction examples of awater-mark information storing section according to the first embodimentof the present invention, wherein 11(a) is the storing section for achangeable character string and 11(b) is the storing section for a fixedcharacter string.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an operation of a printer driver according tothe fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals aregiven to elements which are common among the embodiments.

First Embodiment

In the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, aplurality of pages are collected to one sheet of print medium and apredetermined specific information, such as a fixed character string anda fixed drawing (hereinafter “water mark”), is printed on every sheet ofthe print medium.

In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus according to the first embodimentcomprises the following construction.

An application 1 in a host apparatus, such as a personal computercreates a document. A graphic device interface 2 is a module to converta graphic image function to an output suitable for an output device. Aprinter driver 3 has a module which generates print data suitable forthe output device and transmits the generated print data to a printingsection 4. The printing section 4 prints the image of the printeddocument and a water mark 200 on a print medium 201.

The print driver 3 comprises the following construction.

An image generating section 5 generate bit map data from a graphic imagecommand generated by the graphic device interface 2. A collected pagebuffer 6 stores the generated bit map data temporarily. A propertysetting section 7 sets the property of the water mark 200 together withproperties of the print medium, such as the size and print orientationof the print medium, and various patterns pre-printed on the printmedium as a background. When the property of the water mark is set, awater mark information storing section 8 takes out data necessary forimage processing from a pattern memory which stores a font memory (notshown) and data for generating the background patterns. Then, the watermark information storing section 8 generates a bit map data and storesthe generated bit map data of the water mark 200 temporarily.

An overlapping section 9 reads out the bit map data of the printed imagefrom the collected page buffer 6 and the bit map data of the water mark200 from the water mark information storing section 8. Then, theoverlapping section 8 overlaps both the bit map data and transmits themto a data transmitting section 10. The data transmitting section 10transmits the overlapped data to the printing section 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image generating section 5 comprises a reducedpage image buffer 21, a landscape conversion section 22, a reduced pagestoring buffer 23, a reduced page storing pointer table 24, apositioning information table 26, and the collected page buffer 6.

The reduced page image buffer 21 reduces the printed document accordingto the number of reduced pages. The landscape conversion section 22converts a page of oblong landscape image to a lengthy portrait image tomake all images lengthy. The landscape conversion section 22 also cutsout data in the right-hand edge of portrait image in the same way as inthe of case of landscape image.

The reduced page storing buffer 23 memorizes reduced data of allcollected pages. The reduced page storing buffer pointer table 24arranges and stores pointers representing the top address of eachreduced page stored in the reduced page storing buffer 23.

The collected page buffer 6 positions each reduced page in the order ofprinting and memorizes it. The positioning information table 26 storesan absolute position of each reduced page. The absolute position storedin the positioning information table 26 will be described below withreference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3( a), in case of collecting four pages to one page, shows thepositioning in the order from the upper right to the lower left (in theorder of the upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left).Similarly, FIG. 3( b), in case of collecting 16 pages to one page, showsthe positioning in the order from the upper right to the lower left.

In FIG. 3( a), a reference character X represents the number ofcollected pages in the horizontal direction and a reference character Yrepresents the number of collected pages in the vertical direction. Areference character i represents the absolute position and as indicatedin the right-side drawing, the absolute position i of each reduced pageis i=0 in the upper left, i=1 in the upper right, i=2 in the lower left,and i=3 in the lower right. In the lower left table of FIG. 3( a), areference character R represents the position of page in the raw (Xdirection) and a reference character C represents the position of pagein the column (Y direction).

Here, the reference characters R and C are calculated by thebelow-mentioned formula and a page number p is calculated using thereference characters R and C as follows.

R=an integer number (i/X), C=the remainder of i/X  (1)

p=((X−C−1)*Y)+R  (2)

The page number p is determined as shown in FIG. 3 from the aboveformula. For a page number P′ of the printed documents, one is added tothe page number p.

That is, when X=2 and Y=2, in case of i=0, R and C become 0,respectively, p becomes 2, and p′ becomes 3. In case of i=1, R and Cbecome 0 and 1, respectively, p becomes 0, and p′ becomes 1. In case ofi=2, R and C become 1 and 0, respectively, p becomes 3, and p′ becomes4. In case of i=3, R and C become 1, respectively, p becomes 1, and p′becomes 2.

Similarly, in FIG. 3( b), in case of collecting 16 pages to one page, R,C, p, and P′ are found from the formula (1) and (2).

With the above construction, the image forming apparatus according tothe first embodiment operates as follows. Firstly, printing operationfor printing a printed document 11 generated by the application 1 at theprinting section 4 will be described.

The printed document 11 is classified page by page and the graphicdevice interface 2 is called out to create a graphic image which doesnot depend upon the output device. In response to the call-out, thegraphic device interface 2 calls out and makes the printer driver 3 itgenerate data for outputting each page data of the printed document 11to the printing section 4. In response to the call out, the printerdriver 3 converts the graphic image data of each page of the printeddocument 11 to bit map data. Also, in case of the landscape image, theprint driver 3 converts it to lengthy portrait image and transmits theimage to the printing section 4 for printing operation.

In even case of printing the water mark with a plurality of pages of theprinted documents 11 collected to one sheet, the application 1 outputsthe printed document 11 without considering that the collected pages arearranged in one sheet. The printer driver 3 creates page data reducedfor positioning the plurality of pages of the printed documents 11 inone sheet, make the reduced portrait data having the same size as theprint medium, creates collected page data by positioning the reducedpage data in a predetermined order, and overlap the water mark with thecollected page data for printing.

The operation of each section will be described. Firstly, the operationof the property setting section 7 will be explained with reference toFIG. 4.

Step S1: The property setting section 7 begins property setting process.

Step 2: A property setting picture 100 shown in the right of FIG. 4 forcontrolling the printer driver 3 is displayed on the screen of thepersonal computer.

Step 3: Information for designating the parameters of the reduction andthe form of the water mark is inputted into the display. The informationincludes on/off setting of the reduction print, a reduction modeindicating the number of division of the print medium, on/off setting ofthe water mark, resolution of the bit map data of the water mark,character string representing the water mark, rotation angle of thewater mark printed on the print medium, and print density.

Step 4: The inputted information items are checked to judge if each itemincludes an error. The criteria for the error judgement is stored inadvance and the inputted data is compared with it. If no error is found,the operation advances to step 5 and when any error is found, theoperation goes back to step 3 to input information again.

Step 5: The notice of the parameters of the reduction is given to theimage generating section 5 and the bit map data is created according tothe form of the water mark and stored in the water mark informationstoring section 8. The water mark here is printed on one sheet of theprint medium and not given to every pages.

The operation of the printer driver 3 will be described with referenceto FIG. 5.

Step S11: As an initial operation, the respective buffers, such as thereduced page image buffer 21 shown in FIG. 2, is secured, the pointersof the reduced page storing buffer pointer table 24 are set, therespective buffers and a collected page counter (described later) arecleared to zero, and the page number p to be disposed in the absolutepositions is calculated and set in the positioning information table 26.

Here, the page number p corresponding to the absolute position of thepositioning information table 26 is calculated as follows. The number Jof division of the print medium is found from the reduction modeinputted in the property setting picture 100 (in case that the reductionmode is ¼ as shown in the property setting picture 100 in FIG. 4, Jbecomes 4). Then, the number X of pages in the horizontal direction andthe number Y of pages in the vertical direction are calculated from thenumber J of division. Also, the page number p is calculated from theformula (1) and (2) described with respect to FIG. 3.

Naturally, in case of positioning from upper left to lower right (thesame order as the absolute position i indicated in the right of FIG. 3)instead of positioning from upper right to lower left shown in FIG. 3,it is not necessary to exchange the positioning of pages so that itbecomes unnecessary to calculate the page number p to be positioned inaccordance with the absolute position i using the formula (1) and (2)and prepare the positioning information table 26 for storing the pagenumber p.

Step S12: A reduction ratio η for collecting a plurality of pages of theprinted document 11 to one sheet is calculated from the designated sizeof the print medium. The reduction ratio η is calculated by using thefollowing formula when the height and width of the original data of theprinted document 11 are H and W, respectively.

M=1og2(J)  (3)

η=(W/H)̂M  (4)

Here, as described above, J is the number of division of the printmedium inputted in the property setting picture. For example, in casethat the print medium is divided into two equal parts (J=2), in order toposition two pages as shown in the right of the property setting picture100 in FIG. 4, the height of the printed document 11 is reduced to thedimension of the width W and the two pages are turned by 90 degrees.Accordingly, the reduction ratio η is calculated with the formula η=W/H.When J=4, the height H of the printed document 11 is reduced to thedimension of the width W again and the reduced documents are turned by90 degrees so that the reduction ratio η is calculated with the formulaη=W/Ĥ2. Similarly, when J=8, the reduction ratio η is calculated withthe formula η=W/Ĥ3. That is, reference character M representing how manytimes the print medium is divided into two parts is calculated with theformula (3) and the reduction ratio η is calculated with the formula(4).

In case of division into the number of division other than 2, forexample, in case of division into 9, the formula (3) and (4) cannot beused. Accordingly, if the reduction ratio η corresponding to the numberof division is calculated in advance (for example, in case of divisioninto 9, the reduction ratio η is ⅓=0.333) and stored, the necessaryreduction ratio η which corresponds to the number of division of theprint medium inputted in the property setting picture can be taken outwhen printing.

Step S13: Whether all pages (Z pages) of the printed document 11 havebeen printed is judged. If the printing has not been completed, theoperation advances to step S14 and when the printing has been completed,the operation goes back to step S24.

Step S14: The respective pages of the printed document 11 are reducedaccording to the reduction ratio η calculated in step 12 and the bit mapdata is created so that the reduced pages are imaged onto the reducedpage image buffer 21.

Step S15: In case that the data in the reduced page image buffer 21 isthe landscape data (oblong type), the landscape conversion section 22converts it to the portrait data (lengthy type).

Step S16: The data converted in step S15 is stored in an address in thereduced page storing buffer 23 stored in the pointer of the reduced pagestoring buffer pointer table 24 shown in FIG. 2, wherein the addresscorresponds to the count of the collected pages. For example, when thefirst page is stored, the count of the collected pages is 0 and theaddress stored in the pointer is 0000H. The converted data is storedfrom the address 0000H in the reduced page storing buffer 23. Similarly,in case of the second page, the count of the collected pages isincreased to 1 in the next step S17 so that the converted data is storedfrom the address 0800H in the reduced page storing buffer 23.

Step S17: When one page has been stored, the count of the collectedpages is up by 1.

Step S18: Whether all the number J of the reduced pages have been storedin one sheet is judged with reference to the number of the count of thereduced pages. If the storing has not been completed, the operation goesback to step S13 and the same steps are repeated. When the storing hasbeen completed, the operation advances to step S19.

Step S19: When the process of all the pages J to be collected in onesheet in step S18 is judged to be completed, the page number pcorresponding to the absolute position i in the positioning informationtable 26 is read out in order, the value (address) of the pointer in thereduced page storing buffer pointer table 24, which corresponds to thepage number, is read out, the reduced page data in the reduced pagestoring buffer 23 stored in the pointer value (address) is read out lineby line and stored in the collected page buffer 6 in order.

For example, in case of division into 4, when the collected page iscreated from the absolute position i=0, as shown in the positioninginformation table 26 in FIG. 2, the page number p=2 is read out becausep=2 corresponds to i=0. Then, as shown in the reduced page storingbuffer pointer table 24, the address 1000H is read out because theaddress 1000H corresponds to p=2. Then the reduced page data stored inthe address 1000H in the reduced page storing buffer 23 is read out andstored in the position of i=0 in the collected page buffer 6.

When the absolute position i=1, the page number p=0, which correspondsto i=1 in the positioning information table 26, is read out, the address0000H, which corresponds to p=0 in the reduced page storing bufferpointer table 26, is read out, the reduced page data stored in theaddress 0000H in the reduced page storing buffer 23 is read out andstored in the position of i=1 in the collected page buffer 6. Thisprocess is performed for all the number J of the collected pages.

Step S20: The water mark 200 created and stored in the water markinformation storing section 8 in step S5 in FIG. 4 is overlapped withthe reduced page data stored in the collected page buffer 6 and thenimaged. Although not shown in FIG. 4, when “OFF” is selected in thewater mark ON/OFF option in the property setting picture in FIG. 4, theprocess of overlapping the water mark 200 is skipped.

The positioning of the water mark 200 is performed by reading out thepositioning information which is set in the property setting picture100. In FIG. 1, the center is set as the position. For the positioning,“lower right”, “lower left”, “upper right”, and “upper left” may be setor other setting, such as “in the first page” or “in the second page”,may be accepted. The positioning by inputting X and Y coordinates withthe reference point of the lower left of the print medium is alsoacceptable.

Step S21: The data in the collected page buffer 6 is converted to printdata.

Step S22: The print data is transmitted to the printing section 4 underthe control of the data transmitting section 10 and printed as shown inthe lower left of FIG. 1.

Step S23: The collected page count is cleared to zero and the operationgoes back to step S13 and the same process is repeated until all pagesof the printed document are completed.

When it is judged in step S13 that all pages are completed, theoperation jumps to step S24 and the remaining pages are subject to stepsS24 to S27, which is identical to steps S19 to S22. In steps S24 to S27,such a part in which the reduced page data is not created, is processedas NULL image, which represents no data.

By the operations described above, all pages of the printed document arereduced according to the setting of the reduction mode and the watermark created for every sheet of the print medium is overlapped for theprinting.

As fully described above, in the image forming apparatus according tothe first embodiment, after a plurality of pages of the print data arereduced, the water mark is overlapped with the reduced data so that evenwhen the data is printed with reduction in one sheet, the water mark isprinted without reduction. Accordingly, the printed water mark can beeasily distinguished.

In the above description, the water mark is explained as a characterstring which is set in the property setting picture 100. However, thename of the document or a specific character string in the document canbe made the water mark.

When the water mark is already present in the page before reduction,such a water mark can be used. Also, the water mark is present in eachpage, it is possible to select which water mark should be used.

In addition, not only the density but also the color of the water markcan be set in the property setting picture 100.

Second Embodiment

In the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment, thewater mark, which is mirror-inverted, is printed on the back of thesheet of the print medium.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the image forming apparatus according to thesecond embodiment, the print data is transmitted to the printing sectioncapable of perfect (double sides) printing. An mirror inverting section12, which mirror-inverts the water mark, is connected to the propertysetting section 7 and the output of the mirror inverting section 12 isconnected to the water mark information storing section 8. The othersections are similar to those in the first embodiment and thedescription thereof is omitted.

The image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment operatesas described below. The overall operation of printing the printeddocument 11 created by the application 1 is similar to that in the firstembodiment and, therefore, the description thereof is omitted. Theoperation of the printer driver 3 will now be described with referenceto FIG. 7.

In the property setting section 7 of the second embodiment, the optionis prepared to select whether or not the same water mark is used in allpages, and when it is selected that the same water mark is not used inall pages, it is possible to set the water mark page by page, which isprinted on the back of each page, and set the printing position of thewater mark, such as an upper end, lower end, left end, right end, orcenter.

Step S31: The initial operations, such as securing the respectivebuffers like the page image buffer 26 and initializing the page counterP, is performed.

Step S32: The page image buffer 26 is cleared.

Step S33: The bit map data of P page of the printed document 11 isimaged in the page image buffer 26.

Step S34: It is judged from the information set in the property settingsection 7 whether or not the same water mark is used in all pages. Ifthe same water mark is used, the operation advances to step S35 and ifnot, the operation goes to step S36.

Step S35: The water mark, which is common to all pages, is taken outfrom the property setting section 7. Although not shown, even in casethat the same water mark is used in all pages, when the print data ofthe water mark to be printed on the back has been already created, it isnot necessary to create the print data of the water mark again so thatthe operation skips steps S35 and S37.

Step S36: When the same water mark is not used, that is, it is selectedthat different water marks are used page by page, the water mark, whichcorresponds to the current page P, is take out from the property settingsection 7.

Step S37: The bit map data of the taken-out water mark is createdaccording to the resolution and angle designated in the property settingsection 7 and mirror-inverted in the mirror inverting section 12.

Step S38: The mirror-inverted data is temporarily imaged in the pageimage buffer 26 as a water mark 300.

Step S39: The water mark 300 is converted into print data.

Step S40: The bit map data of the page P of the printed document createdin step S33 and the print data of the water mark are transmitted, as thefront and back data, respectively, through the data transmitting section10 to the printing section 24 capable of perfect printing and then,printed. Then, the page counter P is counted up.

Step S41: It is judged with reference to the page counter P if all pagesare completed. When it is judged that all pages are not completed, theoperation goes back to step S32 and the same process is repeated. Whenit is judged that all pages are completed, the printing operation isfinished.

An example of print output according to the second embodiment is shownin FIG. 8. In FIG. 8( a), the content of the printed document is printedon the front face and in FIG. 8(b), the mirror-inverted water mark 300is printed on the back face. When the water mark 300 is looked throughfrom the front side, the water mark 300 is seen in the form beforemirror-inversion as shown in FIG. 8( c). Accordingly, the water mark 300functions as a watermark.

In the description above, the water mark 300 is printed on every pagesof the printed document. However, the water mark 300 may be used for thefirst embodiment too, that is, the water mark 300 may be printed on thepage in which a plurality of pages of the printed document are reducedand collected.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to thesecond embodiment, the mirror inverting section is provided tomirror-invert the water mark and the mirror-inverted water mark isprinted on the back of the print medium so that the water mark functionsas a watermark.

Third Embodiment

In the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment, thewater mark identifying the printed document or printing person isprinted on the back of the sheet of the print medium using the printingsection capable of perfect printing.

In the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment shownin FIG. 9, a document information extracting section 13 is added to theconstruction of the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment.

In FIG. 9, the property setting section 7 is connected to the imagegenerating section 5, the output of the image generating section 5 isconnected to the document information extracting section 13, the outputof the document information extracting section 13 is connected to thewater mark information storing section 8, and the output of the watermark information storing section 8 is connected to the image generatingsection 5. The other sections are similar to those of the image formingapparatus of the second embodiment and the description thereof isomitted.

The image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment operatesas described below. The overall operation of printing is similar to thatin the first embodiment and, therefore, the description thereof isomitted. Only the operation of creating the print data of the water markto be printed on the back in the printer driver 3 (steps S57 to S59)will now be described with reference to FIG. 10.

In the initializing operation (step 51) of the third embodiment, thepage image buffer is secured, the page counter is cleared, and thedocument information is extracted from the document informationextracting section 13 and stored in the water mark information stringsection 8. The document information includes the names of the documentand printing person and the date and number of pages, which are usuallyset when the printed document is created and stored.

The water mark information storing section 8 is, as shown in FIG. 11,composed of the variable character string storing section and the fixedcharacter string storing section. The variable character string meansinformation which is changed page by page or document by document andincludes, for example, the names of the document and printing person(user), the edition number of the document, the number of current page,the number of total pages, and printing date. The fixed character stringincludes, for example, fixed characters which are fixed in a series ofthe printed document, such as “confidential” and “sample”.

When used as the water mark, the portion replaced with the characterstring is defined as such parameter variables as shown in FIG. 11( a).For example, it is set like “date % Date % CRLF this document % Document% is printed_by % User % CRLF page % Page %/% TotalPages %”, whereinCRLF is characters for control, meaning a new line.

Back to FIG. 10, steps S52 and S53 are similar to those of the secondembodiment and the steps of creating the bit map data of the printeddocument page by page and storing it in the page image buffer 26,respectively.

Step S55: It is judged from the information set in the property settingsection 7 whether or not the same water mark is used for all pages. Whenthe same water mark is used for all pages, the water mark which iscommon to all pages is taken out.

Step S56: When different water marks are used page by page, the watermarks for the respective pages are taken out.

Step S57: The document information extracting section 13 analyzes theproperty information of the printed document and creates the water mark,applying the variable character string corresponding to the parametervariable or creates the water mark according to the fixed characterstring.

Step S58: The water mark is imaged in the page image buffer 26.

Step S59: The imaged water mark is converted to the print data.

The afterward steps (steps S60 and S61) are similar to those of thesecond embodiment.

-   -   By the above operations, for example, when “Feb. 22, 2002”,        “patent DOC”, “John Bush”, and “ 3/10” are extracted for        parameter variables % Date %, % Document %, % User %, and % Page        %/% TotalPages %, respectively, the water mark is printed as        shown in the lower right in FIG. 9. If using a printer which        outputs the sheet with the front face up, the water mark is        printed on the front face.

In the above description, the water mark identifying the names of thedocument and the user or any other information is printed page by pageof the printed document. Similarly, the water mark may be printed forthe first embodiment, wherein a plurality of pages are collected andprinted in one sheet. In this case, the way of printing the number ofpage is different and if 4 pages are collected, for example, it isprinted like “page 5− 8/10” on the second page.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to thethird embodiment, when the printer is capable of perfect printing andoutputs the sheet of print medium with the front face down, thecharacter information extracting section is provided to extract thewater mark identifying the printed document and/or user and print it onthe back of the print medium so that the printed document and/or usercan be identified without turning over the outputted sheet. Also, sincethe variable character string, such as the names of the document anduser, can be expressed as the parameter variables, the operator canprint any water mark without setting it every time of printing.

Fourth Embodiment

In the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, thename of the document is analyzed and the water mark is automaticallytaken out for printing.

The image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment has thesame construction as that of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9. Theprinting section 24 is not required to have the function of perfectprinting. The other sections are similar to those of the thirdembodiment and the description thereof is omitted.

The image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment operatesas described below. Overall printing operation is similar to that of thefirst embodiment. However, the operation of the printer driver 3, whichis described in steps S77 to S79 in FIG. 12, is different from theoperation of the third embodiment in FIG. 10. Only the differentoperation is described in detail.

The operation from step S71 to S76 is similar to the operation of thethird embodiment described in step S51 to S56. That is, the stepsincluding the initialization, clearing of the page image buffer, imagingof the respective pages in the page image buffer, judgement whether ornot the water mark common to all the pages is used, using the commonwater mark, and using the water mark in every pages, are similar to thethird embodiment.

Step S78: The name of the document is analyzed to extract the watermark. For example, in case that the document name is “patent <draft>DOC” or “patent <1.1 edition> DOC” instead of “patent DOC”, thecharacters in

< > are set to be extracted as the water mark so that “draft” or “1.1edition” is automatically extracted as the water mark in the printeddocument. Here, any characters may be used for the water mark, if theyare not unusual or they are not characters which cannot be used as afile name by the limitation of OS (e.g. “/”).

Step S79: The data of the water mark is created. The propertyinformation of the printed document is analyzed so that any one of thevariable character string corresponding to the parameter variables, thefixed character string set in the property setting section 7, and thecharacter string extracted from the document name in step S78 isselected as the water mark, or these character strings are compounded asthe water mark. The print data is created according to the water markproduced as described above.

The afterward steps S80 to S83 are similar to steps S58 to S61 of thethird embodiment.

Through the above steps, for example, in case of “patent <draft> DOC”,“draft” which is automatically extracted from the document name is addedto the water mark including the names of the document and user, date,time, and so forth. The water mark is printed in every printed pages.Accordingly, the water mark, which identifies the draft document by<draft>, can be printed without designating “draft” in the propertysetting section 7 every time.

In the above description, the water mark is generated from the parametervariables or the document name in step S79. However, if the water markis extracted only from the document name, steps S74 to S77 may beskipped and the water mark may not be designated in the property settingsection 7.

The above is an example of printing the water mark on every pages of theprinted document. However, the water mark can be printed in the sheet inwhich a plurality of pages are collected as described in the firstembodiment.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to thefourth embodiment, the document information extracting section isprovided to automatically extract the water mark included in thedocument name for printing so that it is not necessary to designate thewater mark in the property setting section 7 every time.

(Other Modifications)

In the above embodiments, the creation of the water mark, the mirrorinversion and the storing of the data are performed in the printerdriver 3. However, these works may be performed in the printing sections4 and 24.

As fully described, according to the image forming apparatus of thepresent invention, since after a plurality of pages of the printed dataare reduced, a specific mark is overlapped, even when a plurality of thepages of the printed data are printed in one sheet, the specific mark isprinted under non-reduced condition. Accordingly, the specific mark iseasily identified.

Also, according to another embodiment, a mirror inverting section isprovided to print a specific mark, which is mirror-inverted, on the backof the print medium so that the specific mark functions as a watermark.

In addition, when using a printer capable of perfect printing andoutputting the sheet of print medium with the front face thereof down, adocument information extracting section is provided to extract aspecific mark identifying the printed material and printing person andprint it on the back of the sheet so that the printed material and theprinting person can be identified without turning over the sheet.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of processing an image, comprising thesteps of: reducing a plurality of pages of data; creating collected datacollected in a sheet of print medium; creating specific information tobe overlapped with the collected data according to the sheet of theprint medium, said specific information excluding line information; andoverlapping the specific information with the collected data so that onesingle image of the specific information is arranged over at least twoof the pages.
 2. The method of processing an image according to claim 1,further comprising the step of setting a parameter according to thespecific information.
 3. The method of processing an image according toclaim 2, wherein, in the step of setting the parameter, said parameterincludes a character string of the specific information.
 4. The methodof processing an image according to claim 2, wherein, in the step ofsetting the parameter, said parameter includes a position where thespecific information is overlapped with the collected data.
 5. Themethod of processing an image according to claim 2, wherein, in the stepof setting the parameter, said parameter includes a rotation angle thatthe specific information is overlapped with the collected data.
 6. Themethod of processing an image according to claim 2, wherein, in the stepof setting the parameter, said parameter includes a color of thespecific information.
 7. The method of processing an image according toclaim 2, wherein, in the step of setting the parameter, said parameterincludes a density of the specific information.
 8. The method ofprocessing an image according to claim 1, wherein, in the step ofcreating the specific information, said specific information is datacorresponding to one of the pages.
 9. A method of processing an image,comprising the steps of: creating image data of a plurality of pages;creating specific information overlapped with the image data so that onesingle image of the specific information is arranged over at least twoof the pages; inverting the specific information to create invertedspecific information; and outputting the inverted specific informationand the image data.
 10. The method of processing an image according toclaim 9, wherein, in the steps of creating the image data and invertingthe specific information, said inverted specific information and saidimage data are created as data to be printed on front and back faces ofa sheet of a print medium, respectively.
 11. The method of processing animage according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of reducing theimage data of the pages, and creating collected data collected in onesingle medium.
 12. A method of processing an image, comprising the stepsof: creating image data of a plurality of pages from document data;extracting document information from the document data; creatingspecific information from the document information, said specificinformation being overlapped with the image data so that one singleimage of the specific information is arranged over at least two of thepages, said specific information excluding line information; andoutputting the specific information and the image data.
 13. The methodof processing an image according to claim 12, wherein, in the steps ofcreating the image data and creating the specific information, saidspecific information and said image data are created as data to beprinted on front and back faces of a sheet of a print medium,respectively.
 14. The method of processing an image according to claim12, further comprising the steps of reducing the image data of thepages, and creating collected data collected in one single medium. 15.The method of processing an image according to claim 12, wherein, in thesteps of creating the image data and extracting the documentinformation, said document data has a specific symbol for extracting thedocument information.
 16. The method of processing an image according toclaim 12, wherein, in the steps of creating the image data andextracting the document information, said document information is datacapable of identifying a printing person.
 17. The method of processingan image according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of reducingthe image data of the pages at a first reduction rate, and creating thespecific information at a second reduction rate different from the firstreduction rate.
 18. The method of processing an image according to claim11, further comprising the steps of reducing the image data of the pagesat a first reduction rate, and creating the specific information at asecond reduction rate different from the first reduction rate.
 19. Themethod of processing an image according to claim 14, further comprisingthe steps of reducing the image data of the pages at a first reductionrate, and creating the specific information at a second reduction ratedifferent from the first reduction rate.
 20. The method of processing animage according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of arranging tocreate the collected data at a first reduction rate, and creating thespecific information at a second reduction rate different from the firstreduction rate.
 21. A method of processing an image, comprising thesteps of: reducing data of a plurality of pages; creating collected datacollected in one single medium; creating specific information applied tothe one single medium, said specific information including a characterstring; and overlapping the specific information with the collected dataso that one single image of the specific information is arranged over atleast two of the pages.
 22. The method of processing an image accordingto claim 21, further comprising the step of setting a parameteraccording to which the specific information is created.
 23. The methodof processing an image according to claim 22, wherein, in the step ofsetting the parameter, a position is set for overlapping the specificinformation with the collected data.
 24. The method of processing animage according to claim 22, wherein, in the step of setting theparameter, a rotation angle is set when overlapping the specificinformation with the collected data.
 25. The method of processing animage according to claim 22, wherein, in the step of setting theparameter, a color of the specific information is set.
 26. The method ofprocessing an image according to claim 22, wherein, in the step ofsetting the parameter, a density of the specific information is set. 27.The method of processing an image according to claim 21, wherein, in thestep of creating the specific information, said specific information isdata corresponding to one of the pages.